Janelle Monáe will play bisexual entertainer and French Resistance agent Josephine Baker in De La Resistance, an upcoming A24 TV series. De La Resistance will follow Baker’s career as an entertainer and her role as a spy for the French Resistance in World War 2.
The series will include Jennifer Yale, known for her work on Outlander, as showrunner. Monáe will be the producer, under her very own Wondaland Pictures company. De La Resistance is “currently being fought over by multiple streamers,” according to Deadline.
Josephine Baker was the first Black woman to attain a lead role in a major motion picture when she starred in the silent film Siren of the Tropics (1927). The iconic entertainer was also a freedom fighter, helping defeat the Nazis when she worked as a spy for the Allies.
In 2021, Baker was posthumously inducted into France’s Panthéon, which is known as “one of the highest honours” in the country. She was the first woman of color, bisexual woman and performer to be included in the “temple of the nation.”
“Panthéonisation is one of the highest honours the French Republic can bestow on its citizens,” according to The Conversation’s Laura O’Brien. “Between 1945 and 1981, such ceremonies were relatively rare. It is only in the last four decades, following the election of François Mitterrand as president in 1981 and his inauguration day visit to the monument, that it has become more common for French presidents to select people for the honour.”
Josephine Baker actually dated one of the most celebrated female artists of the 20th century: Frida Kahlo. “Reported to have met each other in 1939, Frida Kahlo and Josephine Baker were both brilliant artists who fell in love in a time that was absolutely against them,” according to Musart.
“While married to the womanizing Diego Rivera, Kahlo went through untold turmoil and pain. It was when she moved to Paris that her luck had changed. Josephine Baker was working for the French Military Intelligence agency at the time. She would similarly grow and flourish in Paris. While the details of the relationship remain shrouded in history, this artistic relationship is utterly inspirational. The romance has even seen artistic representation in the movie, Frida.”
“The early years of the 20th century were not generous towards LGBT people. In a time where ostracization was common and, outright hate and bigotry were normalized, Frida Kahlo and Josephine Baker were famous for being bisexual and defying all social conventions. Also, it was no secret that of Kahlo was openly bisexual and would often dress in men’s clothing. Josephine Baker’s adopted son, Claude, would corroborate the orientation of his mother: “She was what today you would call bisexual, and I will tell you why. Forget that I am her son, I am also a historian.””
Janelle Monáe has been a huge fan of Josephine Baker for a long time and it’s no question why. In fact, Monáe modelled Baker’s look at the 2022 Met Gala.
We’re thrilled that Josephine Baker will be immortalized (once again) – this time on television!
